Kentucky

Kentucky's two wild upland populations, northern bobwhite quail and ruffed grouse, split the state along different lines. Quail hunting runs statewide but on two different calendars: an Eastern Zone with a two-part season, opening in early November for about two weeks, pausing briefly, then reopening in mid-November and running through the end of January, and a Western Zone with one continuous season from mid-November through early February. Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources' (KDFWR) long-running Rural Mail Carrier Survey divides the state into four quail regions, West Kentucky, Central Kentucky, the Bluegrass Region, and East Kentucky, with West Kentucky consistently the strongest of the four and East Kentucky consistently the weakest. Ruffed grouse, by contrast, is restricted to a designated Grouse Hunting Zone covering the Appalachian mountain counties east of Interstate 75, with a narrower December-only allowance at three sites outside that zone, Pennyrile State Forest, Tradewater Wildlife Management Area, and Fort Knox; within the zone the season follows the same early-November-then-mid-November pattern as quail, but runs through the end of February.

Ring-necked pheasant, in contrast, is put-and-take only. Kentucky has no general or wild pheasant season; hunting is limited to drawn-permit quota hunts on stocked birds at three wildlife management areas. Green River Lake holds a hunt in mid-to-late November, while Yellowbank and Clay each hold a hunt in early December, all short, only a few days long.